Although TeraWulf (WULF -0.17%) stock's September wasn't quite as hot -- literally and figuratively -- as its August, it still did gangbusters on the exchange. The Bitcoin mining company and increasingly, high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure provider, saw its share price rise by almost 21% during the month.
Bark and bite
Compared to August, September for TeraWulf was rather quiet and not as eventful. The company's rise in that 30-day stretch was due more to external developments than any proprietary news coming from the company.
Image source: Getty Images.
Its money asset (Bitcoin, of course) had a good run over those few weeks, benefiting from generally positive investor sentiment on cryptocurrencies. Typically, when Bitcoin does well, so do the companies who earn money mining it, for understandable reasons.
Like other miners, TeraWulf has been attempting to leverage its assets to bring in more coin. In September, this dovetailed nicely with the popularity of data center operators and businesses associated with such facilities.
The upgrading and expansion of data centers, the sprawling buildings that host banks of computer servers, are necessary steps to advance the AI revolution. After all, AI is quite resource- and power-hungry compared to preceding IT technologies.
Another development helping to drive TeraWulf stock northward in September was a pair of bullish new analyst notes. In the middle of the month, researcher Compass Point initiated coverage of the company, with its pundit Michael Donovan rating it a buy at a price target of $6.50.
It wasn't immediately clear why Donovan was so bullish on the company. That sunny view wasn't out of the ordinary, however -- during TeraWulf's hot August, several of his peers also upped their price targets on the stock.
New York groove
As September came to a close, that second prognosticator became more positive on TeraWulf's future.
Darren Aftahi was the man behind the move, and it wasn't a minor one. He cranked his fair value assessment on TeraWulf more than 50% higher, to $21.50 per share from his former $14. In line with other analysts and many investors, Aftahi is particularly impressed with the company's confident push into HPC and AI, according to reports.
The analyst singled out TeraWulf's Lake Mariner facility in upstate New York as being especially packed with promise. He wrote that there are currently around 422 megawatts in signed leases with two clients at the site, and expects more take up in TeraWulf's facilities in the future.
